


Darkness

by Blue_Hood



Series: Power Prompts [12]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Legion (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Defenders (Marvel TV), The Gifted (TV 2017), X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men (Original Timeline Movies), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern: Still Have Powers, Alternate Universe - Mutants, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Father-Son Relationship, Gay, Harley Keener is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Movie: X2: X-Men United (2003), Multi, Mutant Politics, Mutant Powers, Mutant Rights, Mutant Tony Stark, Mutants, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Past Child Abuse, Post-X2, Pro-Sokovia Accords, Sokovia Accords, Superpowers, Xavier Institute
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:46:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27285139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Hood/pseuds/Blue_Hood
Summary: Expansion of Chapter 38 of What Superpower Should Tony Stark Have?What if Tony was actually Charles' son? What if he had the power to control literal darkness? How would the course of the Avengers' history be changed?
Relationships: Carol Danvers/James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Erik Lehnsherr & Charles Xavier, Tony Stark & Charles Xavier, Tony Stark/Scott Summers
Series: Power Prompts [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1986601
Comments: 54
Kudos: 40





	1. X2

Jean, Storm, Logan, Mystique and Magneto were planning their attack on the base when Jean suddenly said "I don't think any of that will be necessary." A moment later everyone aboard the Blackbird heard the Professor's voice in their head. Jean told the others "Strap in, we need to move closer to their exit." Without hesitation, they all did and were flown around to a side entrance.

As they landed, a figure cloaked in darkness ran outside with the Professor, Cyclops and the kids, another stranger ran alongside them a little unsteadily. They all boarded the jet and the first figure set a boy in a hospital gown with scars on his head down in one of the seats before the shadows left him. "Uncle E!" He cheered at Magneto "You're coming with us, right? It's not like we're gonna risk a repeat of this by turning you over to the humans again. You can leave in DC but first let's show the President a united front. Okay?"

After a few minutes, during which Magneto looked at the Professor, the mutant leader nodded and sat down on a bench. Kitty was the first one to recognize the strange shadow man "You're Tony Stark!" Her exclamation accompanied them all taking seats for take off.

"Yes and no. I am not genetically Howard Stark's son, nor am I Magneto's nephew but mom was a Stark when she had me so I guess I'm still entitled to the name. Call me Nyx or Tony, I guess. And you are?"

"Kitty Pryde, uh Shadowcat."

"What's your power?"

"I can walk through walls."

"Then you should go by something like Ghost, shorter is better when someone needs to shout a warning without revealing your real name."

"I'll think about it."

Tony nodded then turned to her friends, "And you are?"

"Bobby Drake, Iceman."

"Name's fine as long as you don't mind being called Ice. And?"

"Rogue, just Rogue."

"John, Pyro."

"Family troubles, I get it. If not for the sheer amount of backlash, I'd proudly proclaim I am not Howard Stark's son or I am a mutant but I gotta think about other people. With the prejudice still rampant, if I went out tomorrow and told the world I am a mutant then a few things would happen, none of them good. Stark Industries stock would plummet, which would give the Board of Directors a reason to order massive lay offs and force me out of the company in a semi-hostile takeover, erasing all the little things I've done to get rid of workplace discrimination. It wouldn't surprise me if they shut down the Maria Stark Foundation and any other philanthropic endeavors to save money for themselves. Can't do that and believe it or not, revealing mom had an affair would make things even worse than revealing I have an X-gene so that's a no-go." Tony smiled sadly at John after delivering his lesson to all three, "I got shadow powers for a reason, kid, saved my life when all I could do was hide in a corner."

"Howard Stark-"

Tony flashed back to his drunk father yelling for him, telling him to stop being a coward and take his punishment like a man (punishment for what, Tony would never know). He stalked right past his son, who curled up smaller, unaware of the shadows wrapping around him. His wife tried grabbing his arm to get his attention, to soothe his anger but she grabbed the wrong one, the one with the bottle and Howard's arm jerked, knocking her back. Edwin Jarvis tried to tell his employer that was quite enough, tried to make him see that he had just hit his wife but he was too far gone and it only escalated. Howard never hit Tony but it was sometimes a near thing and when he came to his senses, well he didn't remember any of it but he didn't deny it either. Tony breathed through the memory, a recently mind-control free Scott talking him through it. "You okay?"

"Not really, I just friggin' triggered myself."

Kitty asked "Was it really that bad?"

"He never really hit me, mostly because when he wanted to, he couldn't find me but he did hit mom a few times on accident, she grabbed his arm in her attempt to calm him down and his arm jerked because it was the one holding the bottle. I couldn't move, I was usually the one he was pissed at and if he could do that on accident, I didn't want to see what would happen when he acted with intent. Worst part is, he'd get so drunk that he never remembered any of it. Still, could be worse, I guess, at least he had to get drunk to lose all sense. A lot of DV cases involve people who are stone sober and he usually locked himself away after hearing about it, tried to detox a few times." Tony turned to the Professor "There was no alcohol in the house the night he died. Mom made him get rid of it while I was at MIT, she threatened to leave him and tell the world how he'd treated her, Jarvis wouldn't sneak him a bottle because he supported mom. He couldn't have been drunk driving, he had nothing to drink and mom wouldn't get a car with him if he was drunk because he was prone to blow up at the slightest provocation. I still have no idea what I did that made him want to kill me when he was drunk, he didn't know when he started to sober up. If he wasn't drunk driving but he was behind the wheel then that means something else caused the crash. I don't care much for Howard Stark, even though I have to call him my father, but I do care about mom and she died too so I gotta figure out what really happened. Any ideas?"

"There were witnesses, son."

"Obie, probably part of his plan to steal the company, and a few others, I'll look into it."

Pyro looked between them "Is the Professor actually your father?"

"Genetically, yes but I didn't meet him until I was an adult so genetics is where the father-son relationship starts and basically where it ends." Tony looked down at his chest and made the darkness vanish, revealing a band shirt and no glow. "My powers don't tire me out the way other powers might, darkness and shadows are natural things, I manipulate them, I don't generate them so there's not much loss of energy on my side." He looked at the teens "You understand?"

"Yeah," Pyro said, flicking his lighter "Like me and fire, I can manipulate the flame all day long. My power only starts tiring me out when I try to make more, make it grow," he demonstrated by making a dragon out of the small flame then making it grow until it was the size of his head then he closed his hand and snuffed the flame "It's like that, right?"

"Yeah. I didn't always know I was using my power or that I even had one, I just thought I found a good hiding place." Tony continued "I can black out an entire room, or even a whole base, but unless I have pre-existing shadows to draw on, darkness that's already there, doing that is exhausting because I'm forced to draw on small bits of shadow, like my own, and come up with the rest on my own. It's possible, exhausting but possible." The billionaire mutant smiled "I wouldn't have it any other way because people who have to generate their element are limited by how much they can generate. Imagine if Magneto over there could only move metal he organically created and that metal only lasted as long as he willed it to, he wouldn't be able to do jack because of the strain. Manipulating an element in its natural state is much better than generating it and manipulating that. Don't you think?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Great." Tony looked at Cyclops then his father "Is he alright?"

"He will be, son, in time."

"I meant, did you clear his mind of Stryker's sick drug?"

"Yes."

Tony turned to Magneto "Stryker used his own son's cranial fluid to control mutants, including the kid himself, and knowing you, that would be enough of an excuse to kill both of them because you're only self-aware to a point. The kid didn't ask to have a crazy father experiment and operate on him, kid had no more control over what happened then you did when you told him about the school."

"I am aware."

"Just keep that in mind for the next time a mutant kid is used against mutant kind because I can't see Stryker being either the first or the last." Magneto nodded and Tony turned back to his father "Figure out who Lady Deathstrike is?"

"Yuriko Oyama and that is all I can tell you, son."

"Alright."

The inventor relaxed into his seat a moment before Wolverine started passing out uniforms to the teens. Jean switched places with Scott once his mind was clear enough to fly, checking on the young Stryker, "Jason? Can you hear me?" He was unresponsive and with a heavy heart, Charles used Stryker's name for his son, garnering a response from both the boy and Magneto.

Tony sighed "Stryker called him that, said his son was dead along with the rest of us. I think he planned to make that a prophecy." He shrugged "Sorry, I got lost in the base, didn't get to Stryker in time."

"Your intervention was still timely, although I have to wonder how you got in the base."

"Oh, uh, I hid on the jet that flew away from the school. I was going to check on you but the school was under attack, I saw them dumping kids in the jet and made a judgement call, figuring that if push comes to shove, they'd cut their losses and pull out. I was right."

Scott said "Thanks for that."

"We were lucky. Yuriko couldn't see me well enough to attack me while I took apart the device Stryker was using to contain the Prof's power then you got the world's most powerful telepath working against you and that's never a fair fight." Scott actually chuckled at that. Tony turned to Logan, "I don't need a suit, I can cloak myself in shadows and say nothing."

Rogue asked "Do you mind if I ask about Afghanistan?"

"Not as long as the Prof doesn't mind running interference on my triggers."

"Why didn't you use your powers then?"

"Oh, that's not even a trigger. I have the power to control shadows, I do not have the power to survive a dozen men randomly firing machine guns at me. And, of course, there's the whole, don't want to be outed as a mutant because my company could be ruined if even whispers of that got out and I won't betray the people who rely on me for their livelihood but that didn't occur to me until later."

"Right."

Tony asked "What is your power? Iceman and Pyro are pretty self-explanatory and Kitty told me hers."

"When I touch people, I absorb their life-force."

"Sounds awful. Let me guess, you can't turn it off."

"No."

"Alright. I'll take some time to come by the school next week, see how I can help the student body. To be clear, you can only absorb life-force, right?"

"Right."

"A field of harmless energy should be enough of a barrier for you to safely touch people, can't say you won't feel it but you and the people around you should be safe. I also can't promise I'll get it right on the first try, we're talking about force-field tech, that's new territory."

"Thank you." Tony shot his father a look before smiling at Rogue with a nod.

Tony and Storm's powers came in handy, as did Charles to freeze the room. They dumped a file from Alkali Lake on the President's desk, Charles politely warned the world leader not to start a war that nobody can win and they vanished. Yuriko went with Magneto and Mystique while Tony stayed with the X-Men. Before he left the school, he gave Scott his card, in case the X-Men ever need the Avengers or vice versa but of course, Tony has his father's number.


	2. Civil War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Accords, the first step towards mutant rights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had this whole story all but done then my computer suddenly decided to do an update so I had to try to re-write it by memory, starting after Tony starts making the rounds. There was more of T'Chaka's announcement/interactions with the X-Men and less Barnes' recovery but I kinda like the latter change. We'll see, maybe I'll remember more of the chapter later and update it

When the Accords came into the picture, Tony heard about it from his father first who warned that the Avengers were unlikely to support it. The X-Men had backed them up in Sokovia, giving the Professor a reason to scan them. The old telepath made no secret of the fact that what he found he didn't like, confiding in his son that Rogers and Romanoff knew who killed his parents. Tony had already started backing out of the Avengers, the Accords just moved up his time table. Bruce had left Sokovia with the X-Men, as had Pietro, although Tony wasn't sure if there was a connection or just coincidence at work there. The Professor found out from Hank McCoy who was informed in advance because the humans wanted to use him to get mutants on board, as if he would blindly follow along with that plan. Copies of the Accords were printed and dispersed among mutant communities, that was the extent of Hank's cooperation and Tony would bet he made the copies from his own instead of requesting they be made. Beast helped the X-Men through the legalese as they carefully contemplated and debated their stance before deciding that they would sign.

In Vienna, the X-Men rolled out in force, giving the reporters outside something to see. In the actual meeting room, Tony greeted them warmly "Cyclops, glad you could make it." He led the mutant leader over to where two African men were speaking with Natasha, "King T'Chaka, Prince T'Challa, Miss Romanoff, this is Cyclops the leader of the X-Men. Cyclops, this is King T'Chaka, one of the primary authors of the Accords and his son Prince T'Challa, they are from Wakanda. Miss Romanoff, of course, is also known as the Black Widow, well, the current one anyway. I thought you might like to talk to some of the people most affected by this revolutionary document, it is a huge leap for the mutant rights cause."

Cyclops offered his hand "Nice to meet you, your highness." He let some of his nervousness slip through.

Tony said "If you'll all excuse, I am going to make the rounds, introduce some of the other X-Men." He ducked out and made his rounds, sticking to codenames.

When King T'Chaka made his speech, Tony stood with the X-Men in a back corner of the room. The Professor suddenly detected an imminent threat and Quicksilver grabbed the king, Iceman threw up an ice wall with Pyro flanking him, Storm and Phoenix flew into the air to catch the debris, all moments before a bomb went off. In the aftermath, T'Chaka used his position as the person most endangered by the bomb to ensure he got to make the announcement regarding the bombing and used that to show his support of mutants. The signing commenced on schedule, Tony and the X-Men weren't the only ones signing as members of the Enhanced community but they certainly had the most attention on them after T'Chaka's announcement. Cyclops and Tony signed together with the rest of the X-Men following single file.

After Sokovia, Charles had told Tony to prepare for an imminent disaster, allowing his son to test several iterations of a psychic inhibitor on Jean and himself as a counter-measure against Wanda. His son asked him to be in his mind when he spoke to Interpol, keeping him grounded as he explained the cuffs. Romanoff's cuffs used a thin force-field to keep her from grabbing a weapon or a pick and the key would only work for select agents who had to hold it at a certain angle. He made two sets, advising they restrain both her arms and legs. Rogers were simpler like the man himself, the cuffs had a compartment on the top that folded out to restrain the hands themselves but at its core, this set simply countered super strength with a hidden X-gene scanner to ensure it wasn't used on a mutant. Wanda had a headband with three small devices, one went on each temple and the third went on the forehead that inhibited psychic power. Tony had to test the devices many times to ensure that they stopped before doing permanent damage, even though Wanda never stopped there when it came to abusing her power.

Rather than risk giving Interpol something that could be used against his father, Tony coded Wanda's headband very carefully and had Vision incapacitate her for him. His android son left the Compound after turning over the Witch and flew to Vienna to sign the Accords, thereby ensuring he would be viewed as a person not property. Romanoff was arrested when she reached the front of the line, Phoenix holding her immobile while agents cuffed her. Rogers, still in England, was picked up by their local heroes and turned over to Interpol before the team flew to Vienna to sign. With most of the world's recognizable Enhanced signing the document, the Accords were declared an unmitigated success.

Tony had designed the prison his former teammates- dubbed the Rogues by the media- were held in on commission, believing it would only be needed if they were mind controlled or brainwashed. He helped find the bomber before even thinking about giving the Rogues the time of day and then, he only went because Cyclops offered to go with him. He had also talked to his father about why Charles visited Erik in prison after Alkali Lake and felt their situations were similar enough. Standing before the three traitors, he smirked "Look at that, Zemo and Ross both went down without a fight. It's sorta public knowledge that Barnes was found, caught and acquitted of his crimes as the Winter Soldier. Seriously, googling his name would tell you that but then, you probably don't even know how to use Google because you refuse to adapt to this century. If you weren't all about doing things your way the rest of the world be damned then DC and Lagos could have been avoided the same way the Vienna bombing was dealt with." Seeing the look on his former teammates' faces, Tony zeroed in on the big man himself "Did Romanoff not tell you, Rogers? A man named Helmut Zemo impersonated Barnes and bombed the UN in Vienna, the X-Men who were present for the Accords signing contained the damage, resulting in a body count of one, no two. Zemo killed two people in preparation for his plan to tear the Avengers apart but zero people died in his Vienna bombing because the X-Men are good like that. That means their casualty count is at," Tony turned to Cyclops "How many civilians have you guys killed?"

"None."

"Their casualty count is at zero and yours is in the millions. Before you try to correct me, dropping the Insight carriers took out a third of DC's population and I'm not blaming you for Sokovia, although Zemo kinda does. The Data Dump alone resulted in hundreds of people on SHIELD's watchlist and Index, civilian consultants, agents and their families all getting killed. I'll split the bill for Sokovia and New York between the whole team but that's about it for me and Bruce. The rest is all you and Romanoff, and Wanda but I don't think she's been an Avenger long enough to rack up a body count outside her share of Sokovia and Lagos. Pietro," Tony snapped his fingers ignoring Wanda's snarl, "He also got tried and more or less acquitted of his work with HYDRA. Turns out, he tried to leave but he was too late and Wanda wanted her brother with her so she forced him. A simple brain scan proves it, certain parts of the brain are unnaturally active when Wanda's screwing with your head. Beyond that, they have a traumatic childhood wherein their parents were casualties of war and HYDRA recruited them from a protest, showing he isn't predisposed to violence. Throw in their training videos and all the videos showing him trying to talk her down, the time he did talk her down right before they joined us to fight Ultron, basically people think he's a bad guy but not evil and they sympathize with him. He won't be able to go solo for some years but he's not on his way here to join you guys in lock up so I'd say things turned out alright for him. Bruce is sort of a middle ground between Pietro and Barnes, people mostly blame Ross for a lot of the Hulk's crimes since Ross kept triggering Bruce." Tony turned to Romanoff "They blame you for triggering him in Sokovia and Wanda for Johannesburg. We've been able to prove that Hulk is more destructive when forcibly triggered as opposed to Bruce letting him out, more or less absolving him of wrongdoing in cases where people knowingly provoked him. Alright, just wanted to let you guys know what's going on, it'll probably be a long time before anyone else does. Anything you want to add, Cyke?"

"Yes." Cyclops turned to Wanda "HYDRA did a DNA work up on you and Pietro, which Tony gave my team access to after Pietro joined us and we noted a discrepancy you should be aware of. I don't know about your mother but genetically speaking, your father is Magneto, a Holocaust survivor. List's experiments did nothing more than awaken your X-gene at borderline unstable levels, which is why they failed to garner results with any of the other, strictly human test subjects. I thought you should know. Pietro is an X-Man and as such, he will probably fight your father at one point or another but I can guarantee that Magneto will be more understanding about his son fighting him when he finds out the truth than he will be about what you've done. Think about that, I'll try to arrange proof for you to see after your trial, when it can no longer be used against you. Right now, it's hearsay and you should treat it that way because you have no more reason to trust me than I have to trust you." He and Tony left the cellblock, not giving the Rogues a chance to twist things or spit abuse at Tony.


	3. Last Stand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Worthington Labs is dealt with and Tony bonds with Scott

Tony argued vehemently and ultimately called in a few favors to get social services to interview the little boy Worthington Labs was holding as the source of their cure off-site. The social worker asked about the experiments and Jimmy answered honestly, prompting the removal of the boy from the facility. Tony took guardianship of the boy and enrolled him in Charles Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters then turned his attention to Worthington's son and repeated the process without calling in any favors. Warren's story cost his father custody and this time, they cut out the middle man and placed him at the school. The secret base beneath the school remained a secret even though Charles outed his institute as a special school for mutants. Tony even managed to give the school custody of Jimmy so the boy could live in peace.

Scott had a free pass to visit Tony at the Tower anytime but he never used it until after the Worthington Labs issue was resolved. "What's up?"

"I'm not sure why I came." He was fiddling with a ring and Tony understood immediately.

"Jean break it off with you?"

"Yeah."

"For Logan or Warren?"

"For herself, your father admitted he's still restricting her power like she asked when we were students and has decided to resume teaching her control so that the barriers can be removed."

"I knew he believed me about the alien invasion but I didn't think his preparations would hurt anybody." Tony imagined Scott blinked at him then, based on what he could see of his expression "What's your drink?"

"Aren't you in AA?"

"Not AA, oh crap. Happy has the key to the liquor cabinet, for just that reason. We only keep alcohol on site for parties and even then, the bartenders are instructed to refuse me service, act like I'm underaged."

"Smart."

"So you didn't come here to drink after my dad screwed you over, on accident. Do you want to, I don't know, talk? I think I know why you came here but not what you came here to do."

"Really?"

"You needed to get away from the school and figured my Tower was as good a place as any. Want to watch a movie or is that annoying when everything looks red?"

"I'm used to it and a movie sounds good."

"What do you want on your pizza?"

"What?" Scott sounded startled.

"Pizza, you can't have a movie night without pizza. Check the fridge, make sure we got your pop since beer's out." Scott went around the bar to the fridge while Tony grabbed two water bottles, explaining "So we don't have to worry about spills and I'm still waiting on your pizza order. J, tint the windows please."

"Couldn't you-"

"I could but why bother?"

"Fair point." Scott gave his pizza order and JARVIS placed it.

"Someone in the lobby will send it up when it gets here. Pick a movie, we'll alternate."

"Sounds good." The whole thing was sort of surreal and very chill. Scott wound up spilling his secrets to Tony, who returned the favor, occasionally quipping about how they might as well call movie night what it was, a slumber party. Scott laughed every time and still wound up spending the night, in the guest room.


	4. Night Vision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delving deeper into Tony/Scott's relationship

Tony was amused when Scott made a habit of coming to the Tower to blow off steam, especially when Logan came back from drifting and offered his condolences. Tony almost had a standing order at his favorite pizza place by then and just told JARVIS to hit it to get the movies going. After Logan, Scott countered the order "JARVIS, don't."

"I am-"

"I need to talk to Tony without distractions."

"No pizza?"

"No pizza."

"Dang it, okay, what do you want?"

"Do you want to go out?"

"On a date?" Tony gave him an amused look before shrugging, "What the hell? Got anywhere in mind?"

"Not anywhere special, I just thought we might try one of the diners nearby."

"No, I know a great hole in the wall place. I used to go there all the time when I was little and avoiding home or school, sometimes both. Point is, I know this city and I know good cheap food."

"Sounds great."

"You really want to make this a date?"

"Yeah."

"So you're bi?"

"Uh, yeah." Scott cleared his throat, suddenly nervous.

"Scott, my father may be prim and proper Charles Xavier but I was raised by an alcoholic ex-playboy and my mother was a socialite. Besides, I'm bi too. Since LGBT started getting traction and celebs sleeping with the same sex stopped being scandalous, the press started portraying me as straight because Tony Stark on stereotypical escapades sells better than Is Tony Stark Gay? I mean the second one is still controversial but the backlash would be directed at whoever printed the story for being homophobic, treating homosexuality like a disease."

"Oh, okay."

"Give me a minute." Tony went to his bedroom and dressed down, having come up from a meeting, "Now let's go." At Scott's look, he said "I'm blending in, a walking shadow is a bit too noticeable."

"Right." They went on several dates, Tony and Scott getting to know each as more than friends.

Curious, Tony used the research he did on the human brain and some stolen SHIELD research to craft a pair of teched up glasses "Try these on." Scott did and Tony rolled his eyes, knowing the other man's eyes were closed "The lenses are made of the same stuff as your current glasses. I'm working on memory tech and thought I'd test the visuals on you, see if I can make you see what I want. Open your eyes and tell me what you see." Tony set some test images, asking each time "Are the colors coming in alright?"

"Yes."

After Tony ran out of test images, he said "Let's try a real test." He cut the connection to his console and watched as Scott's mouth dropped open. "I really am working on memory tech for PTSD patient and amnesiacs but this isn't that. It's related from a research standpoint but not a developmental one. On the development side, this would be more for treating various kinds of blindness."

"This is amazing, Tony."

"Yeah, hold off on your praise for a moment." Tony pulled up the security feed, "This is what you look like with those one."

"Tony-" Scott saw what he meant, obvious electronic components gave them a sci-fi look.

"You can't go out in public wearing those, nobody will believe they're prescription or sunglasses until I actually get the others to market so you can only see in color when you're around people who know why you normally can't."

"Okay."

"By then, I'll probably have the design more streamlined but for now." Tony ducked under his workbench and gave Scott a wound up cord, "Here's the charger, don't get the glasses wet, obviously."

"Thank you, Tony."

"I'll need to talk to dad about those projects, this is a good icebreaker."

Scott moved closer, "Tony." The inventor closed the distance, kissing his boyfriend. "I love you."

"Love you too, Cyke." Tony moved around him and picked up something else, "Image inducer, for visible mutations." He handed the box to Scott "Don't let my father lock it away. If a student wants to use it, they should be allowed. I'll show you how to set the image and lock it." Tony did just that before noticing how disappointed Scott had looked when he moved to grab the image inducer, "I really do love you, Scott. I'm, I'm just not good with emotions."

"Okay." Scott knew that already. His boyfriend's answer to anything involving feelings was either a movie night or an inventing binge.

For one of his many R&D projects, Tony crafted braces for his father, "They're based on the suit. Instead of increasing strength, these will increase mobility." Charles tapped his forehead and his son nodded, the telepath getting everything the inventor knew about his creation before testing them out. "They won't work long term, since your injury was to your spine and I haven't even begun work on that but so far, so good."

"What do you want, Anthony?"

"I know you've been guilting students into returning the image inducers, you need to stop. I put Scott in charge of those because I trust him and I thought you did too. He's the admin on those, not you. If he's giving it to people who can blend, tell me now and I'll ask someone else to oversee their use."

"I am sorry, son."

"Charles, the image inducer is a prototype cloaking device. You can't hurt what you can't see, I know that better than anyone."

"I understand that."

"So why are you advising students not to use them? They could be lifesavers and not just for mutants."

"No reason, I suppose I did not realize how important they were."

"The students you had return them, let those people know that using an image inducer is their choice and I'll make some more so Scott has extra." Tony smiled "Maybe you could make it a lesson of sorts. Scott's glasses are prototypes for people who are color blind or partly blind, I don't know what the lesson is but I'm sure there is one to be found in the tech that's becoming normal here."

"Indeed."

"Good." Charles smiled at his son, using his newly reacquired height to hug Anthony properly, "I'll show you how to take the braces off on your own," There was a release mechanism installed specifically for that. Charles knew that his son had wanted to discuss his relationship with Scott but was unsure how.

"I am proud of all you've accomplished, An- Tony, nothing will change that."

"I know." Then the deeper meaning hit him, "Thank you."

"You are welcome."

"Shall I put you on the official list of possible test cases?"

"If it's not too much trouble."

"Not if you don't think it is." They parted on good terms and Tony knocked on the open door to Scott's office "Just gave my father the braces and got him to promise to stop talking students out of using my tech, he might even turn your glasses and his braces into a lesson but I'm still not sure what that lesson would be. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine."

"Good, I got some more image inducers in the car since you'll probably have more students requesting them once word gets around the Professor is not against them."

"Thanks."

"No problem." Tony walked around his desk, releasing the door stop to let it swing close. He pulled his boyfriend into a kiss, "Anything else I can help with?"

"Not right now, I need to focus."

"Lot of paperwork that comes with being a teacher, huh?"

"Yeah."

"You're using my glasses for paperwork?"

"Tony, I haven't been seeing everything in red for decades."

"I'm not judging. Use them however you want. Actually, speaking of paperwork, I got a ton I gotta do for SI. See ya around."

"Goodbye, Tony."


	5. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magneto says his piece

In exchange for some important information, Erik Lehnsherr was allowed to visit Wanda Maximoff's cell block unsupervised. "Hello."

"Who are you?" asked Steve Rogers- no, not asked, demanded.

Erik's gaze flicked over to the other man, who was known for his grandiose speeches. Clicking his tongue, he wagged his finger "Behave yourself, Steven." A piece of the wall flew over and formed a muzzle at his words. Facing his daughter, he asked "Do you know who I am?"

"My supposed father. Where were you when I needed you?"

"In prison, most likely, and entirely unaware of your existence seeing as I did not know your mother was pregnant when she ran away from me. I only found out from Anthony, who had the courage to tell me in person despite my propensity for violently attacking those who harm my family. Oddly enough, once the shock wore off, I could find no evidence of an attack on my family."

"Stark killed my-"

"Your parents? Your mother died from a disease and I am clearly alive. Furthermore, Stark Industries never officially sold weapons in that part of the world, too unstable politically what with all the civil wars. The reason that missile you saw didn't explode, it was never armed."

"What?"

"Stark Industries, back when they made weapons, made them very difficult to remotely override, or in other words hack; something that has helped them in their shift to general technology. The missile was likely stolen and as such, the faction that fired it could not arm it. Since the weapons was not nuclear, there was no danger from it unless it fell on your little heads. I will admit, I'm surprised that trauma did not trigger your X-genes. Ten isn't too terribly far away from puberty when most mutations manifest. The point stands, Stark had nothing to do with the missile aside from running a family business that may have made it. There is also a chance the Stark missile you saw was counterfeit, a fake. You tortured a man for no reason." Magneto closed the distance between him and the cell, switching to Slovak "You tortured a fellow mutant for no reason." Stepping back, he switched back to English "You are my daughter but that does not give you the right to blame me for things I didn't do. I may be a terrorist to many but I am also a Holocaust survivor and you chose to be a neo-Nazi to exact irrational revenge. I watched your entire trial."

"If you're a terrorist, why are you free?"

Magneto turned to Romanoff, ignoring his daughter's cries, "I made a deal to see my daughter. You should request a psych eval if you have any hope of not being extradited to Russia. The US has washed their hands of you and even declared you an illegal immigrant on top of everything else. Sink or swim, Miss Romanova, sink or swim." Finally he turned back to Rogers and replaced the section of the wall that had acted as a muzzle "Before you begin lecturing me, let me tell you something, which you may already know. A psych eval does not determine whether one is crazy or not. In fact, it can be used to argue diminished capacity, which is what happened before James Barnes began treatment for his triggers and amnesia under a telepath. Funny how people hell bent on killing Bucky have allowed him to be acquitted of all crimes. In case you were curious about your aiding and abetting a terrorist organization charge, that was added when the authorities discovered you knew about the Stark murders. Covering up a crime is practically the definition of accessory after the fact, which is a crime itself. Nobody cares that you're Captain America, Wolverine has fought in every war from Civil to Vietnam, he is the most prolific soldier in American history and unlike you, he is a soldier. Six wars and his disciplinary record could fit in a shoe box. One year of war and yours takes up a whole drawer in a filing cabinet if we're aiming for accuracy. He is a mutant but he is still preferred over you. In fact, he never even fraudulently enlisted, he just struck a line through the year portion of the birthday question rather than lie about his age. Tony is putting his considerable clout behind getting justice for murdered mutants. Did you know that murder cases are often closed once the victim is revealed to have been a mutant, even when the killer confesses? Food for thought, assuming you know how to think. Good day." With that, he swept out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did everyone think of Erik's speeches?  
> What did you all think of the comparison between Wolverine and Rogers? Lemme know and enjoy the next chapter


	6. Son

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony has a brilliant idea

Vision was startled when Tony burst into his room, "Get up, we're going to see the X-Men."

"Has something happened?"

Tony stopped so fast that Vision was almost afraid he'd topple over. Taking deep breaths, Tony turned around "No, the X-Men run a school for mutants that has special classes that I think you might find helpful. One of those classes is mutant ethics, which is basically all about boundaries for powered people. I was thinking you might want to enroll. By letting you sign the Accords, the UN recognized you as a person under the name Vision. You can enroll as yourself, if you want. I think this might be more beneficial than therapy, which is itself more beneficial than moping. Your choice but I really think you should check out the school before deciding."

"Ah, I think I'd like that." Tony drove them to the school, the gate opening as they approached. "How-?"

"The X-Men are led by a telepath and we have an appointment."

"We do?"

"Yeah. Y'know Scott?"

"Your boyfriend," Vision sounded unsure about the word.

"Yeah, my boyfriend. Does he visually remind you of anyone?"

Vision analyzed his memory of the man and found a match "I see, your boyfriend set this up."

"I was talking to him and he made the suggestion but he also told me the Professor might be busy working with his fellow telepath Jean Grey so Scott's gonna meet us and maybe show you around while we wait for the Prof to finish his session."

"You're not coming on the tour?"

"I already know my way around and there are some students I want to check in with, make sure the tech I made them is still working."

"You make specialized technology for mutants?"

"Don't forget to use the door and yeah, I made an image inducer for kids with very visible mutations like blue skin." Vision often phased in and out of places so he was grateful for the reminder as he followed Tony's example in departing the car and listened to his answer.

"Ah."

"Yeah. Ready to head inside?"

"You seem nervous?"

"Viz, if you had a birth certificate then I'm pretty sure I'd be listed as the father. Do you understand?"

"Are you saying you view me as your son?"

"Yeah, which makes FRIDAY your sister. Seriously, if you ever need a birth certificate, I'll call up Helen Cho and we'll put one together."

"That-"

"Tony, stop it, you're overwhelming him." Scott came out to greet them. "Vision."

"Scott."

"I have no idea how you've managed a secret identity with the eyewear but congrats, I almost had to spell it out for Viz."

"Thanks. The Professor's waiting for you two."

"The Professor?"

"Charles Xavier, jokingly codenamed Professor X, often referred to by students past and present as the Professor. Yeah, maybe I should just show you to his office and let him do the talking."

"If you think that would be wise."

Tony introduced them and Charles asked him to stay for the talk. Tony assured Vision that he could remain an Avenger while enrolled at the school "It's not like you need the normal academics since you can look anything up with your mind, plus the Accords allow for another responsibility to trump superhero work unless the world is ending so this won't interfere with that." That was a selling point and Vision asked if he could stay at the school. Charles agreed, stating he'd stay in a guest room since he is legally an adult, which was fair. Tony left them for Vision's first session with the telepath on human emotions. The Professor had several degrees, even though his doctorate in genetics was the one everyone focused on, and he was qualified as a therapist, at one point, Tony was sure. With that done, he got a bunch of the X-Men and senior X-Men trainees together to watch a video of Magneto's visit to the Rogues.

"What was he even doing there?" asked Scott.

Bobby echoing "Yeah, shouldn't they have arrested him?"

"Nope. Officially, he traded information for that visit. Unofficially, he gave them Stryker's adamantium and had Mystique tip off Wakanda to the Vibranium knock-off. Also unofficially since I hijacked the feed, I told him about his kids. That had to stay off the record for obvious reasons, my interference means the guys monitoring the feeds misheard that bit."

"What were you doing-"

"Exactly what he said I was doing, telling him the Maximoffs are his kids. If you're asking how, I can become one with darkness and have access to the world's most advanced AIs, which can analyze data from millions of sources simultaneously, making it easy to find anyone. Magneto knows Pietro's here, expect the Brotherhood to intervene on your behalf if you get attacked again or at least for Mystique to steer clear. He does care about his kids, a lot, like he'd probably tear the world down if Pietro died."

"Right."

"Awesome." Tony smiled "I just thought you'd like to see Magneto use words to destroy someone, I am slightly amazed he didn't kill any of the idiots and only muzzled Rogers."

"Me too," said Scott with a smile.

"They probably would've arrested him for that, right?" asked Bobby.

"Because he's Magneto, yes." Tony explained "Were he almost anyone else, there might be talks about giving him a metal for that. I'm sure you saw how Maximoff's trial went, that was basically over when Pietro testified against her."

Changing the subject, Kitty asked "What about the murder cases he mentioned?"

"Right, buried the lead. It's exactly like he said, putting pressure on the authorities to re-open and convict. By allowing mutants to sign, the Accords recognize mutant as people with basic human rights. The age-old "they're monsters" defense instantly falls apart in the face of that." He shrugged "Seemed like the best time to get to work on getting justice, while the world is still on our side. I'm probably going to have to go public with this at some point. Given how people act these days, expect social media to light up with hashtags on both sides of the mutant rights issue." He looked around "To be clear, we want that to happen. My PR people are great at their jobs, we can probably make pro-mutant fashionable. Once its fashionable, more companies will jump on the bandwagon and anti-mutant legislation like the thinly veiled draft Rogers thought the Accords were will be impossible to pass, in this country at least. The US is pretty big fish, set a precedent here and watch a huge chunk of the world follow it. That is how you win an emotional argument with reason, you consider your audience's feelings. Don't get me wrong, mutant activists still have a ton of work to do to make this happen but I can help apply pressure to get the ball rolling, it's just gonna be rolling uphill."

"Wow," Bobby said.

"Yeah, politics and PR, not fun but definitely necessary." Vision found them there discussing how to win explicit mutant rights, Tony looked up at his arrival and ran over "How'd it go?"

"Good. I would like to change my Avengers status to reserve."

"Alright, that's actually what Barton chose technically. I'll get the paperwork in order since we have to notify the Accords Council of this change and they love paperwork. You wanna stay here?"

"Yes."

"Alright. I'm not leaving yet but I'll get the paperwork to you this weekend, after I talk to some other supers about joining as reserves." Vision smiled and excused himself so as not to intrude.

"What's going on?" asked Kitty.

"Viz is going to school here to learn about healthy human interaction and feelings, I thought mutant ethics class might help more than regular therapy."

Her eyes widened a bit and she smiled "That's awesome." They moved on to safer topics, the X-Men and future X-Men feeling they have a firm grasp on politics.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who likes Vision going to school? Who likes Viz being Tony’s son? Comments welcome


	7. Heir

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet Harley Keener

Tony was going to bring Vision with him to meet Harley Keener but several weeks before he was supposed to visit his son, the boy's mother called, sounding terrified. During the flight to Rose Hill, Tony called his father "Uh, I think my son just manifested. Can you check on him for me? His name is Harley Keener, he should be in Rose Hill, Tennessee."

_"Of course. May I ask-"_

"If he is a mutant, you'll get to meet him. His mother called in a panic, I think he might need some serious help, like your brand of help."

_"I will check and call you back."_

"Thanks." Pushing the suit as fast as it would go, Tony arrived in record time, finding the house looking partially burned out and light flashing from the barn. He looked between the two before rushing into the barn to find his son tearing at his own skin "What do you think you're doing kid?"

"Get back, I don't want to hurt you."

"Well that's good because you can't." Tony got out of the suit and ordered "Restrain but do not harm." The very rudimentary AI he placed in the armors to give them drone capabilities obeyed, seizing Harley's wrists and holding them apart. "Let me take a look." Tony grabbed the first aid kit and checked it before carefully treating his son's injuries "Wanna tell me what happened?"

"What happened? I'm a mutant-"

"So am I."

"What?"

Tony smiled and said "Look down." He made his shadow change form. "You've got this place too brightly lit to do much more but in a normal space, I can surround myself in darkness and use it like armor. You get it from me and I get it from my father, Charles Xavier."

"I thought your father was Howard Stark and what do you mean I get it from you? How could I get this from you?"

"Your mother never told you, not all that surprising I guess." His expression turned deadly serious "Luke, I am your father." Then he cracked up "Sorry, been waiting almost two decades to say that. Your mom and I wanted you to have a normal childhood out of the spotlight. I think we were both figuring I'd eventually settle down and have another kid to inherit the family business, that it would be best not to get your hopes up or have you grow up bitter, feeling like I abandoned you to a small town. Your middle name,"

"Morgan?"

"I picked it. Now, are you going to tell me what happened?"

"I killed the man I thought was my father."

"Not that I haven't thought about doing the same but why?"

"What?"

"Mutant powers are triggered by an episode of extreme emotion or stress during an X-gene carrier's adolescence. What was the stressor?"

"He came back and started screaming at mom, he grabbed her arms, I thought he was gonna hurt her."

"If you'd used anything other than mutant powers, this would be an open and shut case of justifiable homicide. However, because your power is what it is and your alleged father has been absent for years, shouldn't be too hard to argue that you didn't do it. I assume only your mother and maybe your sister saw."

"Yeah."

"You probably won't even be arrested. They'd have to prove you have powers and with the lawyer I already have working for you on your inheritance, that would be very difficult."

"I have a lawyer?"

"You probably won't need it." Tony finished treating all of his son's injuries as best he could with the garage's first aid kit and started tinkering. "The X-Men should arrive soon, maybe not the whole team but the team doctor should be among them."

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm creating something to explain away the damage you did to your house."

"You're really covering for me?"

"Do you know what the first thing I did as Iron Man was?"

"You blew up terrorists."

"Define terrorist, just a general definition."

"People who-" Harley got his point, "You've killed people."

"Yeah. Let me tell you something your grandfather once told me: protecting people is always the right thing to do. We then had a very interesting debate about Magneto or as I call him, Uncle E. I call him that for two reasons: one, my father remembers him as his old friend Erik and two, throws him for a loop every time. Anyway, if your mind is like mine, you won't be able to forget about this accidental justifiable homicide but the key word there is justifiable. If you had taken your nail gun and shot him then you might spend a night in jail but you'd ultimately be acquitted." Tony finished and ordered the armor "Release and return to base."

"Base?" asked Harley as the armor flew out the door Tony held open.

"I programmed in a set of about twenty or so commands and I had to differentiate between return to me and return home so I called home base. C'mon, let's get you inside your house so you can pack." Tony tossed the device away from the house, "That makes it look like something blew up, explaining your injuries if needed and the damage to the barn." When they stepped inside and Tony saw what may have constituted the remains, he said "Chances are we won't need to explain anything away. Mercy, do you have a bag packed for Harley?"

Harley's mother joined them, looking her son over, "I did but he's outgrown everything in it."

"Why do I have a go bag?"

"It was supposed to be in case someone found out you're my son, something to grab while evading kidnappers. Let's pack a new one together." Every now and then, Harley hissed in pain as they went through his things and his self-inflicted injuries made themselves known. Mercy went to pack a bag for her daughter, since her own go bag was still packed.

They finished just in time as the Blackbird came in for a landing. Tony hustled them all aboard and helped Jean hurriedly apply a gel to some of Harley's injuries so the strap wouldn't cause him too much pain. Once in the air, Mercy asked "Where are we going? Who are these people?"

Tony answered "We're going to a school for mutants run by my biological father Charles Xavier. The woman treating Harley's injuries is Dr. Jean Grey, the man flying the plane is Scott Summers. My father, both of his sons and now Harley are all powerful mutants."

Scott said "Both?"

"I have a half-brother named David Haller who is arguably the most powerful mutant alive. He lives in Muir Island, Ireland. If you want to meet him, take it up with our father." Tony turned back to Mercy "Your daughter, was she, I mean, is she-?"

"Edward's? Yes."

"Want to have her tested for the X-gene while we're at my father's?"

"Why would I?"

"Because what happened was stressful and stress is a common trigger for mutant powers. While I could ask my father how many mutants were at the house, his mutant scanner only picks up on active mutations not X-gene carrier who might become mutants."

"Your father has a what?"

"My father founded the X-Men, just FYI."

Scott advised "You should probably stop talking now."

"What is your power?" asked Mercy's daughter.

Tony glanced at Scott, who sighed and nodded, before the inventor released his harness to stand up. He knelt in front of the little girl, "Look me in the eyes." In a moment, his eyes were solid black as darkness covered them, causing the little girl to gasp, before the darkness receded. "I can do that to an entire room."

"Woah."

Tony looked at his son, who was by now totally out of it thanks to the pain medication Jean gave after looking at his injuries, then looked back at Harley's sister "Your brother seems to have the opposite power. I think he might have energy powers that are like the light version of my darkness power." He stood up and asked Mercy "Would you be comfortable with letting someone at the school watch her while we talk to my father about enrolling Harley?"

"I suppose that would be alright."

"Maybe Vision could watch her. I enrolled him so he could both learn about all his superpowers and develop people skills so Harley's going to have a brother at the school once he's enrolled."

"That's good to know. You consider Vision a son?"

"I'm one of his creators and he seems to consider me a father. Try to relax." He turned to Harley's sister and introduced himself "I'm Tony, what's your name?"

"Molly."

"Hey Molly. Do you know why Mr. Summers wears those weird glasses?"

"Why?"

"Because his power never turns off so he has to block it and it's either ruby red glasses or a blindfold." She laughed.

Tony turned to Jean "Are you messing with her head?"

"Just trying to keep her from panicking. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, Molly isn't my kid and you didn't ask about Harley, not that it'd be my call anyway."

Mercy looked at Jean with wide eyes "What is he talking about?"

"I'm sorry. Ms. Keener, my mutant powers are telekinesis and telepathy. If it's alright with you, I'd like to put both of your children to sleep."

"Sleep?"

"Not a euphemism," Tony said "They'd wake up in a few hours and Molly might even have trouble remembering what happened to Edward the way people tend to have trouble remembering the last TV show they saw the night before. Right now, she's helping Molly not think about it and the pain medication she gave Harley is already working to make him sleepy."

"If it's just sleep, that's fine."

Jean smiled kindly and both children nodded off. Tony ran to the back of the jet and pulled something out of an overhead, "Charles let me put this in here for just this sort of thing." He brought back a helmet "This blocks telepathy."

Jean assured Mercy "I won't take offense if you want to wear it, nor will Charles who is also a telepath and authorized his son to bring it aboard."

Mercy slowly put the helmet on and didn't feel any different, Tony smiled at her "It's kind of redundant with ethical telepaths like Jean and Charles but if it makes you feel better," he shrugged.

Naturally, Mercy chose to stay with her son and Tony carried Molly to the infirmary where Jean set to work in earnest. She asked a series of medical questions and gave Mercy the forms to fill out while Tony assisted her in treating his son. Scott had stayed on the jet to perform post-flight checks before heading upstairs. Jean was just finishing up with Harley when Charles came down, "Hello, Ms. Keener."

Tony introduced "Mercedes Keener meet my father, Charles Xavier. Charles, your grandson Harley and his half-sister Molly. Jean put them to sleep during the flight after attempts to keep Molly calm made her appear a bit too disconnected from recent events, notably how Harley accidentally killed Molly's father Edward."

"Tony," Mercy began to scold her ex.

Charles said "Unfortunately many mutants have killed with out of control powers."

"Most of those mutants don't have me covering for them to prevent a witch hunt. The effect of his power looks a bit too much like Extremis for that town."

"Covering for him?" Mercy asked "What did you do?"

"Threw scrap metal away from your house so it'd look like Harley had an experiment blow up. We hurried on the plane to minimize the risk of people seeing. Sorry, I know this is a lot. Although it could be worse, he could have a power that doesn't turn off like Scott's that would be much harder to hide."

Mercy visibly swallowed and focused her attention on Charles, "Tony said you could test Molly for the gene that causes mutant powers. I know I have it, although my mutation isn't nearly as flashy as Tony or Harley's. Could you check?"

"Of course." Charles looked at Molly "Perhaps after she wakes up. I will need to take blood to run a definitive test."

"Right."

Tony asked Mercy "Would you be alright with enrolling Harley in school here?"

"Where is here?"

"We're in Westchester, New York. I know, I mean I assume you'll want to wait until they wake up to take a tour. Maybe you should get some sleep while they're asleep. Jean has to keep a close eye on Harley, she can wake you if either of your kids need you."

Mercy said "I don't understand what happened to him."

"Oh, that. Is Rose Hill pro-mutant, at all?"

"Oh God."

"Sorry. I am really bad at this. Luckily, Harley wasn't actually attempting suicide."

"How do you know?"

"He was in a room with a bunch of power tools and only managed to claw at his arms above the very prominent vein on his wrist. He just wasn't thinking straight after killing the man he thought was his father."

"Ok. I don't really know how to take that, Tony."

"I'm gonna take Scott's advice, shut up, and go upstairs before I say something else panic-inducing."

Mercy stopped him at the door by saying "Tony?!" He turned back "Thanks for all this."

"Not a problem," he stopped himself from saying more and went upstairs. Harley was going to be his heir, his odds of having another kid were very slim and Vision most likely wasn't acceptable to the Board. That was a problem for another day, Mercy was stressed enough at the moment and most people's minds don't run on several track simultaneously.

Scott had a bottle of soda waiting for him, "You okay?"

"He's my son, Scott, what kind of dumb question is that?" Tony took a drink, "Mercy and I were trying to protect him by giving him her name. We planned to tell him after college when his trust fund matured and he would be able to decide whether he wanted to be in the spotlight or remain anonymous. One of the conditions of his trust is a minimum of a Masters degree and it's set up to pay off his student loans if he has any debt from that before he gets the money so he doesn't have to worry about debt, his trust fund would get enough money added to cover it. We both kinda figured by then I'd have a more acceptable heir but that's probably not happening, Harley's probably going to inherit the family estate. God, now I wish I'd started sooner."

"Tony?"

"Yeah."

"You can't do anything until you officially make him your son and you need Mercy to do that so right now, you can't do anything. Kids are still sleeping, right?"

"Yeah. Since Jean's got to monitor Harley, I think Charles might be able to convince Mercy to take a mild sedative. She's still wearing the helmet."

"I didn't even know it was there."

"I, there's something I've been working on that kinda ties into having a psychic shielded helmet on the jet."

"What's that?"

"New uniforms. Custom to work with the different powers. People with enhanced durability or accelerated healing don't need as much protection and might need more mobility than the rest of you. I've had some practice with the Avengers. The helmet is just in case, since I figure Charles and Jean can't be the only telepaths out there."

"Okay. Tony, you need to breathe before you trigger yourself again."

"Right, breathe." Scott was pretty good at talking his boyfriend down just like Tony was pretty good at getting his boyfriend to relax, they were a good match.


	8. David

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to meet the uncle

Tony Stark had only properly met his half-brother David Haller once. Before that, he sorta met Legion the only time he had ever lost control of his powers and his father was at a loss for what to do because apparently Tony was virtually invulnerable when he used his full power, which explained a lot come to think of it. Tony had a blackout, remembering none of the event but got a clear picture painted for him by his father. In his blackout state, he had called himself Nyx. While his father attempted to talk him down, Legion arrived and simply told him to stop, which caused Tony to revert to his 'human' state and promptly pass out while his body recovered from the stress his powers had caused. His father was fascinated, in a seemingly academic way, wondering what exact power Legion had employed, which caused strife between him and Tony who had seen similar fascination in his stepfather, in regards to things such as the Tesseract. Due to that incident, Tony took care never to use his full power and strove to stay sober, or at least never allowing himself to be intoxicated to the point of blacking out.

With the threat he saw on the horizon looming, Tony agreed to undergo some X-Men training as Nyx. However, he still refused to employ his full power without his brother on hand to shut him down. Charles stalled, promising to try to arrange that until Tony made the call himself. David came, via teleportation, and watched as most of the current X-Men, including the senior students, tried to fight his brother. He saw the shift from Tony as Nyx to just Nyx and intervened, ordering him to "Stop," just as the training turned brutal. With the same power as before, he was able to shut down his brother's power. However, this time, Tony remained conscious and David stopped using his power as soon as his brother's skin shifted from solid black to its normal state. "Do you even know what you look like when you go Nyx?"

"D-Legion!" Tony ran over to his brother, "Did I-?"

"Nope. Good idea having me on standby and both names work, I can channel the others, most of them anyway."

"So you're not staying?"

"Nah. I, uh, I help with the other mutants at the facility. Apparently showing my power involves being possessed can be helpful."

"And you're one of the top five most powerful mutants ever born so there's not much an out of control mutant can do to hurt you, unlike Moira."

"There's also that. Our father ended the exercise when you lost control."

"I was waiting for him to call you in but then I realized he never did call you in the first place. Last time you just showed up, didn't you?"

"Yeah."

"Meet me by the elevator, I'd like to introduce you to your nephews." Tony ran off to change out of his training suit, leaving his brother confused by his use of plurals. Tony told Scott "Level with me, how close was it?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. One minute you're beating all of us with ease, the next your brother's telling you to stop."

"Charles never told you? Why am I surprised? He's lied to me about calling David for weeks now." Tony sighed "It’s kind of a long story so I’ll have to tell you later." He clapped Scott on the shoulder on his way out, "What happened, by the way, is I started to lose control and neither my father nor my brother wanted to watch me accidentally kill someone." Meeting said brother at the elevator, he smiled "Do I introduce you as David or Legion?"

"You only mentioned one kid when you called."

"Legally I'm not sure I have any. Harley's mother decided not to put me on the birth certificate to protect his privacy and Vision doesn't have a birth certificate."

David wasn't the most confident person and it definitely showed when he spoke, "Oh, you're counting Vision, okay. Uh, David, I guess."

"Y'know at least one of them is gonna want to see your power in action. Got any friendly alters you can introduce them to?"

"Yeah. I also need to talk to our father and I'd like you to be there."

"You can wear a helmet, he won't take offense."

David chuckled "Don't tempt me. Moira wants to do an exchange. The facility is becoming more like a school itself every day."

"Yeah, well, being an official sanctioned mutant safe haven might help."

"You can say that again."

Scott decided to hold off on debriefing, saying he and Iceman should talk to Charles about Legion to see why the exercise ended early. Bobby told him that John was actually the junior team's leader and Scott almost cringed at his own mistake. The younger mutants just shrugged it off before Pyro dismissed his team. The Professor had made no secret of how hard it was to choose between the two elementals for the job of field leader. Ultimately Pyro won out because he was confident he could make the tough calls leaders had to make while Iceman doubted his own ability to do so.

Upstairs, Tony led David to a rec room "Vision, Harley, glad to see you two getting along." He looked around but nobody had noticed them, "This is your Uncle David. I think I mentioned him to you, Harley."

"Uh, maybe. I don't remember much of that day, Jean said she got my mom's permission to block out the memories for me and Molly but that they could still be triggered."

"Right. David Haller, my half-brother, also known as Legion, possibly the most powerful mutant alive."

Said mutant interrupted his brother "Tony, you're overwhelming both of us."

"Sorry. He's called Legion because he's got DID, Dissociative Identity Disorder, and each of his alters have a different power while David only has the ability to tap into those powers through his alters. His power is mental illness." David chuckled at that. "David, you already know at least some of Vision's powers. Flight, density shifting, slight shapeshifting in that he conjured his cape less than an hour after he was born, and energy projection. I think he might have a few others but for now, that's good enough, right?" David nodded. "Harley has some energy powers. He's only used them once and that's when he manifested so I don't have a clue how they work but he might have the exact opposite of my power."

"Let's hope he's your opposite."

Harley asked "Why do you say that?"

"Um, let's just say you don't want to see either of us at full power, which is actually why I'm here. Tony asked me to come and play lookout while he ran a training exercise against the X-Men."

"I'm not sure if I won or forfeited." Tony took a seat and David pulled a chair over with his power.

"Harley, would you like to meet some of my alters? I've been encouraged to try to keep in communication with them as a means of controlling my gift."

"Harley," Tony spoke in a mock serious voice "Your uncle once abducted himself because he failed to communicate with his alters or notice some of them had an evil streak."

Harley laughed "Really?"

David lightly glared at his brother "How did you even know that?"

"After our first official meeting, Charles came clean."

Harley said "I definitely don't want to meet the you that kidnapped you."

"Don't worry, Lucas can't reach you. I don't let the volatile ones, the alters that are likely to use me to hurt people, near the surface. Want to meet some nice ones?"

"Sure." David smiled, the look in his eyes changed and he spoke to Harley in a feminine voice. Unable to help himself, Harley said “That’s amazing,” before correcting himself, “I mean, nice to meet you.” After that, he was very polite with each of his uncle’s alters.

When David came back, he addressed his other nephew “What do you think, Vision?”

“It is quite a unique gift.”

“I have spent most of my life in one institution or another because, like my brother said, my gift is basically mental illness.”

Tony handed him a phone, “You can set it up with whatever carrier you use. That’s a Stark Phone, my sons both have them and now so do you. If you give me your carrier information, I would be happy to start paying your phone bill so you can talk to your nephews without leaving the Center. Even I can tell you’re a bit stressed out just being here.”

“Thanks.” David took the phone.

“You’ll have to step outside with me before you leave so I can give you the charger and our phone numbers. It’s a prototype so I’ll have to check in with you pretty regularly.”

“Okay.”

“You are not putting him at ease, as I believe was your intention.” When all three of them turned to look at him, Vision said “Sorry, I’m not very good at this yet.”

David said “I appreciate the concern and you’re doing great, especially for your age.” He looked at Tony with a question clear in his eyes.

His brother said “Vision was born the day Ultron and the city of Novi Grad fell, so yeah, he is very wise beyond his years.”

David said “Uh, Tony, I think we should talk to our father now.”

“How long are you planning to stay?”

“I’ll stay for dinner but I need to call Moira with the results of our meeting before then.”

“Okay.” Tony stood up and asked his sons “Who do you think is older, me or David? And no cheating.”

“You are,” answered Harley simply.

“Nope, David is almost twenty years older than me.”

“Really?” Harley appeared stunned.

David nodded “It’s sort of a side effect of my powers, like Mystique, I don’t physically age a lot. It’s sort of like my powers have decided this is what the David Haller personality looks like. My hair grows, I can cut it and shave so I can change my looks but I don’t really age.”

Tony said “Like I said, he is possibly the most powerful mutant alive. We’ll see you later.” The brothers went to Charles’ office and the telepath told Tony to come in, having figured out over time how to overcome the strange way his sons’ minds worked. His eldest was possessed by an army and the mind of his youngest ran on multiple tracks simultaneously, both were incredibly unique.

Inside the Professor’s office, Tony noted Scott and Pyro were still there. Taking the opportunity, he introduced, “David Haller, Scott Summers. Legion, Pyro- you prefer your mutant name, right?”

“Yeah.” John shook the stranger’s hand. “Why do they call you Legion?”

“I have a legion within me, hundreds of mutant powers and a personality to match each one. You’re pyrokinetic, right?”

“Yeah.”

“The pyrokinetic within me goes by Cyndi.”

“Cool.”

David resisted the urge to show him, instead offering “I could let her take over later. You could train with someone who can match you.”

“I’ll think about it.” He left with a nod to Charles.

Tony said “That is creepy, y’know, for someone who hasn’t had your mutation and condition properly explained.”

“Whoops. It’s part of what I do at the center, using my power to provide a peer. A lot of my alters have a pretty good handle on their own powers, it often helps, but I guess I didn’t give a good explanation to Pyro.”

“Right, you said something about an exchange.”

David nodded to his brother “Uh, yeah.” He told his father “Moira wants to do an exchange, send some mutants here to join the X-Men in exchange for graduates to help staff the outreach part of the center, which handles mutant training. She said we could set it up to give them something for their resumes. Outreach also meets with foster parents before releasing kids back into the system. We might expand into training for foster parents with mutant charges, I’m not sure. Right now, it’s a little hectic since the state started sponsoring us. I think that has something to do with the Accords, I don’t know. All I know is that I’m doing a lot more work now than I have since I went from patient to employee and there’s talk of hiring more people but I guess, Moira wants to offer your students first dibs on those new positions.” David pulled an envelope out of his pocket, “Here. If you’re interested, I can call and ask her to email you more details. She asked me to make the pitch since I was heading here anyway.”

“Thank you, David.”

Scott asked “What do you do at the center?”

“Different things, we’re really short staffed right now. I work in containment and intake mostly. Containment is where mutants who refuse to control their powers go, some of the mutants brought to the center to avoid prison spend time there if they cannot control their powers. Intake is for mutants who are new to the facility, we help them settle in. When Moira leaves the facility, she sometimes puts me in charge just to watch over things. We don’t have an official name for training but I also help out there, often giving the mutants someone who actually does understand their power. Like I said, we need more people but for now, the versatility of my power is helping keep us afloat. Some of the people ready to be discharged are staying and helping us out but they’re also working their way through the Accords. Moira thinks that you might have students either ready to graduate or who have already graduated that would prefer helping us to being X-Men, just as we have people who want to be X-Men but are helping out in the meantime.”

Scott said “Probably. We can call Moira and go over possible candidates. Plenty of students don’t think the X-Men are the way to go about helping the cause, the facility might be a better fit.”

“I’ll let her know to expect your call.”

Tony asked “Why am I here again?”

David said “You know why I asked you to join this meeting.”

“Yeah and you’re too nice to say it, I guess.” Tony smiled, “Any chance I can get you to demo some of those powers for Harley and maybe some of the other students?”

“There’s always a chance.”

They went outside, Tony stopping Jean as she passed them in the hall to invite her to send any students she thought might benefit their way. Tony gave David the promised phone charger and family numbers. His brother decided to put his phone in its box and leave it in his brother’s car. His demo attracted a lot of attention, students were amazed by the variety of powers, some soon realizing he was like a different person with each power he used. Tony made sure to return David’s new phone when they went back inside for dinner. Harley and Vision joined them along with several of the students who had watched David, the other students all wanted to know who he was and if he was staying. “Sorry, I can’t stay long. I have work to do. I work at a place a lot like this one, except we do research on the science behind mutants, trying to figure out why some people develop crazy powers and other people get a blue tongue.” He answered more questions, Tony silently wondering if he was channeling the personality of an alter without their power, before standing up at the end of his meal and saying his goodbyes to his family. Charles seemed a little surprised to receive a goodbye from his eldest but smiled back at him and returned the sentiment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The part about Lucas came from X-Men: Evolution, which was my first exposure to Legion. I've seen some of his self-titled show, not all of it since Legion and the Gifted aren't my kind of mutant show, so I may draw just a bit from that. Otherwise, I will rely on reader feedback to keep his character from being too OOC


	9. Muir Island

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plans are made, the center receives aid

Tony Stark had agreed to spend two weekends a month working with the X-Men. They were the most structured, longest standing team in the alliance and part of his job in that alliance was getting everyone on the same page. Mind, that job was supposed to make him a mediator not an advisor for training programs but if he could help get everyone on equal footing, the world would be better for it. That is how he wound up training with them as Nyx. Because he was dating the senior team’s leader, he was often assigned exercises with the junior team. Charles reasoned that they would need to learn to lead people who may not respect them, which is how the senior team wound up training with the reserve Avengers unit, which operated as their own team, the Defenders. All of that was to say that the alliance of super teams worked more like an independent agency with people training and/or transferring between units. There was a lot that went into it and Tony isn’t surprised his brother struggled to understand it all.

On the second day of his first weekend with the X-Men, Tony was in Hank McCoy’s old lab, modifying some tech he had made and working on new tech that the X-Men would test. Scott and Charles came in with John trailing “That is never a good sign. What did I do now?”

Scott said “We’re working on negotiations with Moira for the exchange but she’s having trouble explaining the recruits’ powers.”

“I can use my Avengers clearance to get you and yours into Ireland, face-to-face negotiations often go better. Even video-chat negotiations are better than phone conferences. Is that what you need?”

“We also need you to pick which team goes?”

“Neither. You should blend the teams and see about getting graduates to go with you so Moira can fix her staffing problem ASAP. And, unless anyone at the facility is planning to either wipe out the planet or conquer it, I can’t use my Avengers clearance for that. Honestly, this could be a learning opportunity. I could help you establish your own official channels to travel internationally. You should actually have those already. While we’re at it, we should see about getting you a similar deal to what Moira has with her government, have young mutants sent here instead of prison. It’s called the Department of Corrections, not hard to use that to argue that the school could rehab young mutants, correcting their dangerous tendencies. Today, I could take you for a day visit to the facility.” He focused on his father “You’d need to put someone else in charge if you want to take both team leads. Storm, maybe?” His father agreed.

In Ireland, David greeted them with Moira and a serious man in a suit. “You’re the X-Men reps?”

“Cyclops, Pyro, Professor X and you know who I am.”

“I wasn’t aware you were an X-Man.”

“I’m not, I am a mediator within the alliance that has formed under the Accords to keep the planet safe. In fact, I have a contract with the X-Men to develop mutant-specific technology. My research suggests that this facility could benefit from a similar arrangement.” Tony showed the man his credentials “Now, I believe it is your turn to identify yourself.”

“Agent Gyrich,” Moira explained, “Is our liaison with the government.”

“Understood.” Tony informed the agent “I used my Avengers credentials to expedite the process to bring the X-Men here for this meeting because I believe that they could do good work with the Center. Perhaps we could even set up an exchange. If it is all the same with you, I believe this is a conversation best had indoors.”

“Of course,” Gyrich led the way.

David told the group “The Mutant Research Center was created with containment in mind, which is why the government has been so accommodating. There are mutants that cannot be contained elsewhere, forcing the government to seek our aid and in return, we were able to demand the opportunity to rehabilitate mutant criminals. The Accords expanded our purview but finding trustworthy people to fill our staffing needs is a challenge. I hope that you could direct some interested mutants our way.”

Gyrich asked “Why are you so focused on getting mutants to staff this place?”

Moira said “As you well know, we are allowed to pay mutants less. So long as their mutation reduces the personal risks, we are allowed to withhold hazard pay. The Center must conserve funds in order to physically expand the facilities to meet the growing demand.”

“You’re getting government funds for that.”

“We are expecting funds to expand containment, this facility does more than lock mutants up.”

David stepped in and whispered in Gyrich’s ear “Not in front of the X-Men. Professor X is on the Accords oversight committee, he can have this place shut down pending a full investigation if he so much as suspects that we are lying about what we are doing.”

Tony reminded Gyrich “Professor X is considered the world’s most powerful telepath, although I am sure that you have been briefed on him and know full well what he is allowed to do under the Accords to ensure the terms are properly met.” Gyrich looked between them, nodded and finished leading the group into a conference room.

Moira began “I really do need more funding to meet the increased demand.”

“Okay.” Tony said “The Professor and I can surely reach an agreement to cover most of your expenses. This is a research facility, surely there’s an ongoing project you could use more scientists on. Give SI a chance to join you on those projects, we’ll provide extra funding. I’ll have accounting give the funds in two forms, one that can only be used on the project and one that can be used on anything related to the project. I’d also like to do testing here for mutant tech. I’m pretty sure the tech works but I need people I can actually name for the official records, you research mutants here, I’m sure you could make some calls. I’ll talk to my project leaders to get exact numbers but if you can meet a certain quota then we will pay you. Lastly, I want my tech to get priority. I’ll arrange discounts if needed but I want our two organizations to work together. SI does not have a positive reputation when it comes to mutants, you do. That’s what I need to make this work.” Tony told her “I can have the paperwork drawn up today if you’re interested in any of these offers.” He held up his phone “I’m recording this, by the way, so my lawyers can get the right terms put in writing.”

“I can’t make any promises about meeting a quota. If I do let your scientists in on my projects, they would have to be properly vetted and their access would be greatly restricted.”

“Understandable, it’s often hard to tell who might commit a hate crime. I need some of my scientists to get experience working with mutants so that SI can be the first major company to expand into mutant technology. You need funds, we need experience to build a positive reputation. I can take you to meet my lawyers at the local branch later, if you’d like time to think about things.”

“Thank you, Dr. Stark.”

Gyrich gruffly corrected “He’s not a doctor.”

“Yes, I am. I have several PhDs, also known as doctorates. I just choose not to correct people who call me Mr. Stark unless they tick me off and you’re well on your way to that. I’m not entirely sure why you’re in this meeting. Do you have anything to contribute?”

“I can have the government pull funding-”

“No, you can’t and certainly not over a foreign mediator’s behavior.” Tony told Dr. MacTaggert “The Irish government is required to provide the necessary funds for your containment facility because the Accords require Enhanced detainment to be done with transparency. They have to give you the money for mutant containment until or unless an alternative is found that is acceptable to the UN Accords Council. Agent Gyrich should be doing his best to keep you on his side because you can go to your local Accords liaison and report him for misconduct, you don’t have to go to his superiors at whatever agency he works for. I’ll have a lawyer walk you through the Accords, you and Mr. Haller. As I understand it, Mr. Haller is your second in command and a mutant himself.”

“That is correct.”

“Codename: Legion.”

“Also correct.”

Gyrich’s eyes widened, apparently recognizing David’s mutant name, and Tony pressed on “Legion is an Omega Class, a mutant so powerful that he defies the standard one to five numbering scale. If he signs the Accords then he will be subject to deployment without standard notice. However, that is only in cases where his power is an absolute necessity. If nobody else can either handle the situation or arrive in time to handle the situation, he will be sent in. Omega Class mutants are entitled to certain,” Tony paused to carefully consider his next word, “Privileges and accommodations. There’s a lot of legalese involved, I think you’d be best served discussing this with a lawyer and your local liaison. Suffice to say, Omega Class mutants are highly valued. The X-Men have an Omega Class, codename: Phoenix, who only has telepathy and telekinesis but Legion is known to have a wide array of powers, is that correct?”

“Everything you’ve said is correct,” Moira said “Although I was not aware of the provisions the Accords grant Omega Class. I just have one question about that, it’s a concern really. David’s control is not a,”

David took over “I need the stability I get living here and I have some appointments here I cannot miss. Do you think the Accords Council will allow me to say I’m unavailable at my appointment times? How does deployment work?”

“If the world’s ending then they will call you in and you have little choice but to go. The Accords Council is mostly composed of human politicians with some Enhanced representation guaranteed by the provisions that keep the Accords from being militarized. Each country who signs the Accords is granted at least one liaison, a person who can act as a go-between for that country’s human law enforcement or military and their Enhanced heroes. The liaison is also responsible for explaining the Accords to potential signees and they report to the Council along with the team leaders within the alliance of enhanced. I can get you in contact with the local liaison and have SI send a seasoned lawyer from the local office so you and any other mutants here with an interest in the Accords can discuss your options. I believe that would be most beneficial to everyone. If you still want to send your fellow signees to the X-Men for training, I’m sure some kind of arrangement can be made. I can make some calls right now, if you could gather your fellow mutants who are ready to work with the Accords.”

“Let’s try that.”

Tony did as he said he would, calling the head of his local office to send a seasoned lawyer who could pass Professor X’s psychic vetting then calling the Accords office to request a liaison be sent to the Center. David left to get the other mutants before Moira left to meet the lawyer and liaison outside. Once the lawyer and liaison were there, Moira offered to take their foreign guests on a tour.

While the X-Men talked with some of the Center’s mutant residents after the tour, Tony waited outside the conference room for his brother. When David came out, he looked a little shaken “Well?”

“I can sign next week if I pass a series of tests that Gyrich convinced them to order. He will be removed from his post effective immediately, pending a criminal investigation. The liaison was given access to part of my file to get an understanding of my power, I am really bad at explaining it. I told them one of my alters did not like Gyrich, practically hated having me around him then the liaison looked up that alter’s name and decided to trust them over Gyrich. He’s going to jail tonight.”

“Sounds like a happy ending. Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?”

“Because I have. Let’s go somewhere we can sit down.” Tony led him to the lounge part of the minimum security wing, where mutants who chose to be at the Center stayed.

The way the facility was set up was comparable to an all in one prison with labs added on. Moira had quickly admitted the Center was one of a handful of Enhanced detainment facilities, it worked like a prison but for most residents, it was not a prison. She compared it to a mental institution, residents were like patients. One of the things they wanted to build if they could find the funds were proper training facilities, they also wanted to expand housing and unfortunately, they had to expand containment to fulfill their responsibilities as a detainment facility. She had gone through everything they needed funding for on the tour, informing them “Mutants employees are likely the only way we will be able to afford even half of our plans.”

Tony had countered “If we could get the facility re-classified then I wouldn’t have to create contracts to help fill your funding needs.”

“Re-classified as what?” asked David, making Tony aware that he had distracted himself.

“Right now, your official classification is a mess. Moira needs to sit down with a lawyer and outline everything the Center does then they can begin working on cleaning up your official classification to match what you actually do, which will make you eligible for all kinds of funds.” Tony focused back on the conversation at hand, “You said you saw a ghost.”

“Yeah. You know how DID is normally treated, right?”

“Once you get a proper diagnosis, the doctors work to find the source of the split and help the patient come to terms with their trauma in an effort to merge the different identities into one, usually the one who uses the patient’s legal identity because that is considered the true identity. With you, the waters are muddied because there is no way to be sure all of your alters are made up people.”

“Yeah.”

“You’ve been treated the normal way. Given the fact that your mutant power is tapping into your alters’ mutant powers, it makes sense. I can only assume that for a long time, you were easily convinced that your alters weren’t real, the things done by you or them did not happen. You have trouble explaining your power because it sounds crazy. Your mutant power, in a nutshell, is having a mutant army living in your body. There’s no way to explain it without bringing up mental illness and DID is one of those things that people either deny exist or get mixed up with another condition, like schizophrenia.”

“Okay.”

“So the ghost you saw was a personality you thought had been killed in a merging attempt, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Your mind spawns new personalities, right? What if it just re-used an old mold or spawned a shapeshifter that took the form of your dead alternate?” David fell in a contemplative silence and after a moment, Tony added, “That makes sense but there’s really only one way to tell.”

“I can’t let him-”

“I was gonna suggest seeing your therapist. I assume therapy is the appointments you cannot miss.”

“Right, uh, good idea.”

“Can I ask you something without you getting so upset I wind up thrown into a wall?”

“You can try.”

“How sure are you that your therapist is real?”

“Positive.”

“Just checking.”

“No, that was smart.”

“David, did you know your power classification before today?”

“Yes but it’s not like I’ve always known.”

“Was I the first person to tell you?”

“Pretty much. You were the first to say it outright.”

“You’ve calmed down now and I don’t want to freak you out but I think you may be the key to a mutant cure. You’re technically a reality bender, you could probably suppress someone’s X-gene permanently. Some of the people in the containment center, they might appreciate that. Food for thought.”

“I know, Moira and I discussed trying that on her son but the power involved, I’d need to contact and gain control of my most dangerous alters. It’s not worth the risk.”

“Then let’s take you out of the equation. We’ll figure something out but it can’t be a cure that anyone can deploy, we’ve got to keep it out of the wrong hands.”

“Like your hands are right?”

“I’ve been holding onto a formula my father created decades ago, a theoretical mutant cure but I’m not willing to test it. Mutant cures are unique in that you have to skip most of the procedures put in place to protect people, like animal testing, because X-gene mutants are unique to the human race. I’ll see you around,” they shook hands and Tony met with the X-Men reps, intending to leave together when they found the entrance covered by what seemed to be a military unit.

Tony sighed and moved very carefully to pull out his credentials. Before he could speak, the soldiers all suddenly grabbed their heads and fell to their knees in pain. Legion blew past the friendly visitors and told the men on the ground "You were warned." To Tony, that sounded like his brother was covering for someone. To most everyone else, that sounded like Legion was hurting the soldiers.

A teenager with green hair slunk by and held out her hand. All of the metal around the soldiers flew back into their vehicles, which were then drawn together, making them unusable without totally destroying evidence. Legion turned to her as the humans finally stopped struggling and collapsed, acknowledging the young woman "Polaris." He raised his voice "Kid Omega, Wolfsbane, Glob!" A young man with a red mohawk, a wolf and a skeleton in a red gel joined Polaris and Legion. Smiling, Legion introduced the young mutants to their visitors.

Wolfsbane assumed her human form, adding "Kid Omega is here for extremist tendencies."

"We went along with it to get the Purifier case pushed through. Attacks on mutants have gone down since the Center started taking in mutant criminals for rehabilitation. People are starting to listen when they hear an attack on a mutant was unprovoked." Legion looked at Kid Omega "If things keep going the way they're going then by the time you’re my age, the mutant rights movement may very well follow other civil rights movements in history books."

"You’re more than twice my age."

"The first mutant in history was an Egyptian pharaoh. What’s your point?" In no time, Polaris and Kid Omega managed to get into another argument. Heaving a sigh, David let one of his alters take the reins to shut them up “Enough!” Everyone looked at him in shock and he began barking orders, “You,” Kid Omega, “Take the soldiers into the security office. You,” Polaris, “Get the doors for him and report to Dr. MacTaggert. You two,” Glob and Wolfsbane, “Will guard the prisoners. Once Dr. MacTaggert has dealt with them, you will all make a sweep through the containment wing. Gyrich was arrested today, we need to know how much he tampered with the containment system. Since you’ve taken it upon yourselves to secure employment in base security, you can complete a half shift. Am I understood?”

“Yes, sir,” all four answered in unison before hurrying to carry out his orders.

David’s core personality resumed control “Sorry about that.”

“Did you just let one of your alters out to get a group of kids under control?”

“Yes, I did. I gotta go.” David ran inside, waving goodbye to the American quartet.

Tony focused his thoughts so his father could clearly read them then led the group back to the jet. “Are we letting this slide?”

“Yes, we are. I contacted Moira as soon as I saw the soldiers, the Center is aware of the matter and already in the process of dealing with it. Given there is no imminent threat against the planet, your Avengers credential will not be enough to keep us from being arrested if we stay much longer.”

“True and I was serious earlier when I said we need to get the X-Men their own special clearance. Muir Island just sorta proved that, if you were paying attention to everything they’re trying to do to keep mutants in and around Ireland safe. Did you catch Polaris’ accent? She sounded American and her power, we sure Magneto only has two kids?”

“No, I am not certain but as you well know, having the same power does not necessarily mean two mutants are related.”

“Charles, I’ve seen your ex.” He got a light glare out of his father for calling Magneto that, “Picture him next to Polaris and tell me there’s no family resemblance. Considering Magneto didn’t know about the twins until I told them, it’s not crazy to think he had another kid and didn’t know about her either.”

“The twins are a unique case. Erik was actually married to their mother at the time of their conception.”

“I know, I’m the one who figured that out. I also know that David and I were both accidents, and it’s not hard to imagine a younger Erik being irresponsible. You yourself told me young Erik was driven by emotion, mostly negative emotions. Are you really going to tell me the odds are against us when it comes to him having an indiscretion when you had two that you know of?”

“Polaris is,” Charles trailed off.

“What? She’s younger than Pietro, isn’t she? The timeline works, doesn’t it?”

“Yes it does. I will look into a possible connection.”

“Back to my original point, why is Muir Island getting American mutants?”

“I suspect Polaris was closer to them than us when she was found.”

“Emma Frost’s still alive, y’know? If you need to contact Erik, she probably has the contacts to do that. She’s been on the straight and narrow for decades, even helped you with that Hellfire Club resurgence.”

“How do you know about Ms. Frost?”

“Even drunk and high, I remember things. Our early conversations are not lost to time for me. Only real gap in my memory is the first time I met Legion." Switching tracks, Tony said "We were talking about Muir Island biting off more than they can chew and how we could help, right? Emma’s got her own school in Massachusetts, doesn’t she? If you put in a good word for her, she can shoulder some of the burden. And if two mutant schools pop up in America with a mutant facility in Ireland, odds are other countries will start exposing their own. You, Moira and Emma need to get in front of this, come up with a way to vet such institutions to ensure they’re not work arounds for the provisions of the Accords that protect mutants from exploitation. I’m gonna get to work on the corporate side of things, get an official division working on developing mutant tech, maybe start making arrangements for those things I offered Moira. Fundraising is gonna be a big thing, gotta figure out how to do that honestly. We both have a lot of work to do over the next couple weeks but I’m still assigned to X-Men work for another day. I’ll help you look into Polaris and dig up Emma’s number.”

“Very well.” Charles knew his son better than most and he knew quite well that a delay in his plans would likely lead the younger mutant to do the work himself in order to maintain his time table.


	10. Connections

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Relationships are revealed, revelations are had, and Tony works too hard

Tony Stark, or to be more precise, Anthony Edward Stark. The name was practically a misnomer, the mutant himself mused for probably the hundredth time since that night when Charles had impulsively blurted out the truth in order to stop him from telling the world a truth of his own, telling everyone how Howard Stark’s abuse had led his only child to become one with the shadows, how Howard Stark hit his wife for attempting to stop him from hunting down said child who hid in the shadows. Charles had blurted out the truth then insisted Tony sit down and listen. Of course, Tony didn’t care how he was conceived by accident, how Charles and his mother were both with other people, how there was drinking involved on both their parts. He just did not care how his father got his mother pregnant. What he cared about was that he had never been there for him. He had thought they were becoming friends, another relationship built on lies. Tony had eventually sobered up from the drugs that had been screwing with his emotions and had a mature conversation with the man who was apparently his father. They managed a few more civil encounters before mutually deciding that it would be best if they went their separate ways.

During those long nights spent talking, sometimes several consecutive nights, Charles had told him things that he never told anyone else afterwards. Tony learned how the X-Men came to be, learned how Magneto became who he was. He could be grateful that his first experience with heartbreak was not his own heart but that of the father who did not raise him, who only came into his life when he was spiralling to save him and by extension, mutants because Tony had the potential to do great things, he just needed someone to patch up his insides. The X-Men’s origin story forced him to share heartbreak and betrayal with his son. When he realized that, Tony asked about his mother, wanting to know if Charles actually cared. In many of their encounters, Tony was grateful that the way his mind worked, running on multiple tracks, made psychic shielding redundant because a telepath would sooner drown in the sea of confusion that was his mind for outsiders than get anything useful. Charles admitted that his night with Maria had been a mistake, not one remembered well, and that he had not known Tony was his son until he recognized a mask his son wore when photographed from his own childhood and did the math but by then, he could not conceive of a way to save his son without exposing him to more hatred and fear.

Tony was pulled from his reminiscing when he arrived at his destination, the Massachusetts Academy. He got out of the car and followed a trio of girls inside, where he was met by Emma Frost. Closing his eyes for a moment, he focused his mind, projecting the image that haunted his dreams yet might be the key to saving the planet. He felt Emma’s gentle touch in his mind, a slightly cool touch. The thoughts that nearly spawned had to be clamped down on for the present telepath’s benefit. “Focusing does not come naturally to me and I’ve been told my mind is often chaotic enough to constitute a natural defense mechanism. You’ll have to be quick.”

“Of course.”

“If I may,” he guided her back to an old memory in which Charles laid out the Hellfire Club for him. To conserve time, Tony focused on the part about Emma, wherein Charles reported the woman disappeared early on in the Brotherhood’s history and recalled suspecting she had perished along with others like Angel and Janos. Tony opened his eyes, his mind snapping back to its normal state of controlled chaos. “I came because I fear that we will need all the help we can get to face the true mastermind behind the Chitauri Invasion. You and Magneto parted on good terms from what I can tell. If we need to contact him, can we go through you?”

“I suppose, if you tell me what you are trying so hard to hide.”

“Interesting choice of words.” Tony pulled shadows from all over the room- the spaces they occupied were hard to look at once they were gone, the mind automatically picking up on the wrongness of the scene- and cloaked himself in them. “I am, genetically, Charles Xavier’s son. His younger son to be precise, my older brother David is an Omega Class who doesn’t like to stray far from his home in Ireland.” The shadows were returned “You had a child by Shaw, which is why you left the Brotherhood.”

“I don’t know-”

“My brother has a split personality, I’m the best at differentiating between alters. Don’t bother lying. Did the kid survive?”

“Survive?”

“Still playing coy? I guess it is disorienting to hear my thoughts but you could always block them out. To answer your question, did the kid make it to 18 years of age? Did your offspring survive to term, survive birth and survive childhood in a mutant household? Do you have grandkids? Is your kid a mutant or just a carrier?”

“Why do you assume he’s a carrier?”

“Two mutant parents, X-gene is almost guaranteed.”

“My son somehow managed to take after a father he never knew, joining the Upstarts and then the Friends of Humanity before getting caught up in the Purifiers."

“Okay. I just need to know one thing. Can I count on you to help out when the time comes?”

“Of course.”

“I should get going.” Tony finalized arrangements for the Muir Island facility on his way out. He had a few more stops, supers he had to pitch the Accords to, before reporting to training. Captain Marvel was due to arrive soon and likely to join the Avengers.

Tony could admit to being surprised when training was cancelled. He was much less surprised than his fellow Avengers to learn Captain Marvel’s arrival had caused the cancelation. Jessica Jones began to grouse “Chick-”

Being a good friend, Tony cut her off “Captain Marvel is War Machine’s wife. There was an explosion in the early 90s, I think it was, and the only thing of the captain’s that was found was part of her dog tags. Everyone thought she was dead, her body completely obliterated. Long story short, the explosion was caused by members of an alien race called the Kree shooting a turncoat who was helping enemy refugees. The Marvel in Captain Marvel is derived from the turncoat’s name Mar-Vell. Either the Kree who took her or the explosion that gave her her powers rendered her amnesiac. She forgot her entire past, didn’t know her own name or planet of origin. Her husband hasn’t seen her since before the explosion. Imagine being married to someone, being told they were dead, finding out they’re alive and being unable to even call them for over 20 years then tell me that War Machine is being a dick for clearing his schedule to spend time with his wife, tell me he's being an asswhole for wanting to handle her reintegration personally. His parents had to grieve for a daughter in-law they never met because Carol and Rhodey rushed their wedding before Rhodey was deployed and Carol was stationed at the base where she would unknowingly befriend an alien scientist. Personally, I wouldn’t blame him if he cashed in on some personal time, would you?”

“No, I guess not. Sorry-”

“They kept their own last names because she didn’t want to be known as his wife, she wanted them both to rise and fall on their own merits. There is no way you could’ve known.” Tony was hit with an idea, “If there’s one thing the military teaches people, especially officers, that is to always have a plan. I could probably find Rhodey’s plans for your team’s training exercise.” The Avengers invited several teams to train with them in their state-of-the-art facilities. Jessica was part of one such team, originally deemed the Avengers reserve unit. Her team’s official designation, the Defenders, came from their roster being composed of vigilantes who sought to defend the innocent and as a means of differentiating between the two teams (Defenders and Avengers). There were plans in the making, Tony knew, to apply this system for setting up teams within well established teams elsewhere. For instance, having the X-Men help train other mutant units who would be part of the X-Men as much as the Defenders were part of the Avengers, separate but united.

Danny Rand, codename: Iron Fist (although he would probably argue against calling his title a codename), shrugged “If you could do that, it’d be appreciated.”

Tony addressed the room “FRIDAY?”

The AI answered “I have all of Colonel Man’s training plans.”

“Alright then I guess the Avengers will be covering for the Colonel. Let the others know the new plan.” Running a training exercise as part of the team training and doing so as the admin were two very different things, Tony mused after the Defenders finished their scheduled training and went their separate ways. FRIDAY had guided him and his teammates in what she thought War Machine would do, using the mission objectives and some commentary she recorded when he was planning the exercises as well as drawing from previous training the other teams had completed.

Tony was just about done with post-training paperwork for the alliance under the Accords- hopefully the system would improve over time to be less tedious for team leaders and training overseers- when he saw Rhodey and Carol. “Sup, Creeper.” Tony signed her initials, CD, faking annoyance in a way that made the ASL gestures look offensive.

Pulling on his suit jacket, he reminded his best friend “Your wife still has to meet your parents. Me and the others covered for you today, you can check over our post-op if you want.” He had realized half-way through that he was the only one training a team with any experience to speak of and then he realized shortly after they dispersed that meant he had more paperwork, which is why he was just finishing up while the other core Avengers were long gone. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to pick up my boyfriend for a fundraiser.” He had just enough time to drop by the school if he hurried, he just hoped Scott wasn’t too nerve-wracked about attending.

Scott climbed in the car wordlessly, after Tony called him at the gate, and they were well on their way to the event when the other mutant spoke “What is this a fundraiser for?”

“Um,” Tony pulled out the invitation and handed it to him. “I have to attend at least a few of these events to maintain mine and SI’s image. It’s a lot easier to deal with if I don’t have to deal with all the girls coming onto me and believe it or not, that still happens even though I haven’t been a playboy in years. Plus, charity events are a good way to test the waters. Everyone is on their best behavior but they’re still gossiping. How they respond to you will give me an idea as to how they’ll respond to Harley, who probably won’t have the luxury of gaining full control before we have to let people see him. Soon, I’ll have to present a Stark heir.”

“Are you okay?”

“As okay as I’ve ever been. This is the last thing I have to do tonight.”

“Last thing?”

“I went to Massachusetts to talk to Emma, made a few stops to pitch the Accords, ran a training exercise for a team operating under the Avengers while Rhodey caught up with his wife who spent most of their marriage in space. This event is the last thing on my to-do list. A few of the people there knew Howard before he met my mother and they helped mom with her philanthropy so I won’t be swimming in totally shark infested waters. Could be better, could be worse. It’s just how my life is.”

They talked to the people they needed to talk to, Scott saw how the ladies kept coming onto Tony and how his boyfriend tactfully turned them down. Eventually, the leader of the X-Men stepped in and asked “Would it be alright if we left now?” Tony looked around the room then at the time before nodding, letting himself be led back to the car and letting Scott take the wheel. He wound up spending the night at the school, having fallen asleep in the car.

The next day was strange, he managed to do all his business from the privacy of the school and got a look at what his life might’ve been like if Charles had stepped in and taken him away from Howard. His mind, inevitably, pointing out everything wrong with that. If Charles had stepped in as his father then Howard wouldn’t have let him stay on as heir to SI and Stane would’ve won. Scott was a bit disturbed by the glimpse at the way his boyfriend worked when he asked Tony in the safety of the teacher’s lounge what he thought life would have been like if Charles had taken him in. Seeing how Tony saw his happiness, his ability to feel safe in his own home, as a small price to pay for ensuring other people had good lives. Scott didn’t love him any less; in fact, the part of him that had started to hate Charles for not taking care of either son shrunk. Tony left before dinner to return to the Tower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of merged Shinobi Shaw (what I know of him from Marvel Fandom and Wikipedia) with Graydon Creed. If you've read this chapter before 1/22/21 then you may note that I made up grandkids. Re-reading the story, I realized that was an unnecessary addition and cut the OCs.

**Author's Note:**

> In the original prompt fic, I contrasted Tony Stark being Charles Xavier's son in the Darkness chapter with him being Magneto's son in the Light chapter. If you like this fic, I think you'll like that chapter. The Light chapter has one of the best lines of dialogue I've ever written near the end.


End file.
